Door-operating device



' G. TUCKER DOROPERATING DEVICE June 24, 1930.

Filed Jn'. 14, 1928 Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES Goanon TUCKER, or MrNNnAroLrs, ivuNNnsoTA DOOR-OPERATING DEVICE Application filed January 14, 1928.

This invention relates to door operating devices and more particularly to operating devices especially adapted for two part swinging doors such as are frequently used on garages, barns, sheds or the like.

In order that a clearer vperception of the present invention may be had, it is to be stated that with garage doors, for example, with relation to which the invention will be hereinafter described, there is frequently experienced more or less difhculty, especially in windy weather, in opening the doors and maintaining them in open position when driving a car in and out of the garage.

The present device is intended to provide aV mechanism especially adapted for holding the doors either closed or opened as desired and prevent the swinging of the doors after they are positioned in their opened or closed position.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple, strong and compact mechanism of the above general character which may be inexpensively manufactured and easily installed, requiring no further upkeep, adjustment, lubrication or expense.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of the above generalcharacter, in which all of the working parts are positioned at the top of the door, thereby to unobstruct the passageway.

i Afurther object is to provide a mechanism of the above general character of standard stock size, which may be applied to doors of any size and width, and adjustably attached to the doors as desired according to circumstances to permit one door to swing open to a more or less extended position than the other as is sometimes necessary owing to obstructions adjacent the garage, for example, or the necessity of entering the garage at an angle. l f

A further object is to provide a mechanism of the above general character, in which either one of the doors may be operated from either inside or outside of the garageand synchronously operate the other door.

A further object of the invention is to provide a foolproof mechanism of the above general character with means whereby the doors Serial No. 246,855.

are not only maintained in their opened or closed position but are aided in their movements towardsI such positions after they -have been forced thru a predetermined angle.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawing and in part hereinafter indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts and in the unique relation ofthe members and in the relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as Amore completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous Vmodifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form of the invention have been annexed as part of this disclosure, and in which drawings, like characters, of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all of the views, of which- Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the device u and intended position in dotted lines when applied to two open doors;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same mechanism with the doors closed; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view.

Referring now to th-e ydrawings in detail, 5 indicates the vertical uprights ofa door frame to which thev swinging doors 6 are hinged along their swinging vertical axes 7. Immediately back of these uprights, there i isindicated a transverse beam or support 8 to which the operating device is secured. This operating device as herein showncomprises a relatively flat body member 10 provided with opening 1l thru which securing means, such as lag screws, are adapted to pass for securing the body member to its support. Considering the doors to be at what may be herein termed the front of the garage, this body member 11 is provided with two spaced apart forwardly extending lugs lf2, upon which are mounted a pair of interengaging coacting segmental gears 13. These gears are pivoted to the lugs 12 at the points 14 near their central portion, thereby to provide opposite laterally extending portions 15, the ends of which are preferably provided with securing means of any desired type, such as sockets 16, into which the opposite ends of a coil spring 17 are secured. A link 18 is adapted to engage the pivots 14 to secure and Vhold the segmental gears 13 in proper rela- Y means between the gears and doors, and by Tao changing the point ofY connection of these links with the doors, a greater or less movement of the doors may be obtained as desired.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that as the segmental gears 13 rotate about their pivot points, the outer ends of these two members swing in the arc of a circle and being secured to the ends of a coil spring 17,

will cause this spring to pass a oleadl center position, which, of course, is in line with the pivot points 14. Thus, this spring 17 acting effectively between the arms 19 has a normal position of rest when the doors are in the closed position at one side of the longitudinal axis of the device passing thru the pivots, as shown in Fig. 2. The spring is of strong, heavy steel, and the doors are held in this closed position until anv attempt is made to open them. I/Vhen either one of the doors is forced outwardly, then the spring is gradually put under increasing tension until it reaches its maximum position of dead center at which point the doors are only partially opened. From then on, however, the spring tends to retract and accordingly causes the segmental gears to rotate about their pivots. thereby to complete the opening movement of the doors without external assistance.

From this, it will be seen that the opening and closing action of the two parts of the door are in synchronism by reason of these segmental gears, and the complete device works in harmony. Inasmuch as the tension on the spring 17 is relieved to a certain extent after passing its dead center position, it will cause the doors to move to their opened or closed position rapidly at first and then gradually decrease to its point of rest without jar or shock to the parts, thus eliminating possible splitting or .breaking of the doors at the hinges with the consequent expense for repairing and lining up the doors.

Inasmuch as the entire mechanism involves relatively few parts, all of which fold up one upon the other, the whole mechanism may be relatively inexpensively packed, assembled and shipped ready for immediate installation at its destination.

Without further analysis of the invention, the foregoing will sofully reveal the gist that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, fromthe standpoint of the prior art fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a. door operating mechanism of the character described, in combination, a support having a pair of spaced apart pivots, a pair of cooperating gears adapted to be connected with the doors mounted upon said pivots, spring means between said gears and so disposed at one side of the pivots as to be tensioned as the gears rotate thru a portion of their movement past a dead center position with respect to the pivots and operative to complete the rotative movement of the gears thereafter, and link mechanism interposed between said gears and the doorsto be actuated, whereby movement of either one of said doors will cause simultaneous movement of the other door.

2. In combination with a pair of oppositely disposed swinging doors, a door operating mechanism therefor comprising a fixed support positioned substantially midway between the doors, a pair of spaced apart pivots on said support, intermeshing gears mounted` on said pivotsA and flexibly connected with saidV doors, and a vspring operatively joined to said gears at one side of the pivots and normally urging said gears in closed-door relation, the spring being so disposed as to be tensioned and moved past the vline of said pivots as the doors arel opened or closed, thereby to complete the opening or closing movement independently'of external assistance.

3. In combination with a pair of oppositely disposed swinging doors, a door operating mechanism therefor comprising a relatively lixed support having two spaced apart pivots, segmental gears intermeshing with each other and mounted on said pivots, said gears having extension portions opposite center position With relation to the line of said pivots, the spring upon further movement past its dead center position completing the opening` or closing movement of the doors independently of external assistance.

4. In a two part door operating mechanism of the character described, in combination, two pairs of arms of which the arms of each pair are pivotally connected end to end, one pair for each door, said pairs of arms movable relatively away from each other as the doors are opened, the adjacent arms of said pairs having an operative pivotal connection at their ends, and a spring connecting said last named arms adjacent their pivotal connection and so disposed as to be stretched over a dead center position With relation to said connection as the doors are opened or closed thereby to hold said doors in their opened or closed position.

Signed at Minneapolis, Minnesota., this tenth day of Januar 1928.

ORDON TUCKER. 

